DePaul Takes Down No. 14/14 Kentucky 94-85 Thursday Night

Thursday, December 9

Lexington, KY

6:00 P.M. CT

DePaul University

8-2,2-0Big East

No. 14/14 Kentucky

6-2,0-0SEC

DePaul

Kentucky

DePaul Takes Down No. 14/14 Kentucky 94-85 Thursday Night

12/9/2021 8:40:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Five starters score in double figures and all five shoot 50 percent or better

LEXINGTON, Ky. – There are so many heroines on this night, so many gutsy DePaul players who poured their hearts out and played their behinds off for 40 minutes on a Thursday night in Big Blue Nation.

Where to start with passing out kudos for an amazing 94-85 triumph over No. 14/14 Kentucky in historic Rupp Arena.

What a way for Kentucky-born Lexi Held to play her first game in this iconic place, coming through with 10 points and a career-high 11 assists---several of them so stylish and crowd-pleasing.

There was Deja Church pouring in 20 points, most at the most critical of times. Darrione Rogers filled the stat sheet with 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Sonya Morris added 13 points and four assists.

And last, but certainly not least, powerful freshman Aneesah Morrow racked up her fifth double-double of the season with 18 points and 17 rebounds. That means both Held and Morrow were double-double Demons on this night.

All five starters scored in double figures and all five shot 50 percent or better. Defensively, DePaul shut down Kentucky's long-range shooting as the home team went 0-for-14 from behind the arc.

More than anything, coach Doug Bruno wanted his team to keep playing with intensity and focus it demonstrated in taking a 48-43 halftime lead.

Kentucky Player-of-the-Year candidate Rhyne Howard staked her team to 50-48 early in the third quarter before picking up her fourth foul and heading to the bench.

Huge momentum switch. Morrow made a steal and set up Held for a three-pointer. Very next possession, Church buries a three and her team is up 56-50.

Dee Bekelja's basket extended it to an eight-point lead until the Wildcats scored the next four. Back came the Blue Demons, and baskets by Rogers, Morrow and Kierra Collier made it 64-55 at the third quarter media timeout.

Kentucky rallied to trim its deficit to 64-61. The Blue Demons responded closing out the quarter on a 9-4 run sparked by back-to-back threes from Morris and Rogers for a 73-65 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

Morrow's score down low put DePaul in front 79-67 early in the fourth quarter---its biggest lead of the game. Morrow scored again for an 11-point lead.

That's when Kentucky came within 83-76 at the media timeout.

A Rogers score and two by Church powered the visiting team to a 91-79 lead with 2:09 left.

Kentucky jumped out to a 10-4 lead and maintained that six-point advantage until a Kierra Collier three-pointer followed by a Church fast-break layup off a long Held feed left DePaul down 14-13 at the first quarter media timeout.

Morrow sparked a burst late in the quarter, and her two baskets and a Church score put the team from Chicago ahead 24-22 after one quarter. DePaul shot 11-of-16 over the first 10 minutes including 2-of-3 from distance.

The Wildcats opened the second quarter with an 8-2 burst in taking a 30-26 lead at the 8:21 mark prompting Bruno to call a timeout.

Morrow continued to score on the strength of her offensive rebounding, and combined with foul shots from Rogers and Collier, the Blue Demons moved in front 39-36.

After Big Blue Nation came within one, Collier, Held and Dee Bekelja sparked a 9-3 run in the waning moments of the second quarter.

If DePaul goes on to win, this was a critical juncture. Morrow was on the bench with two fouls and watched her teammates collectively have her back. Bruno's team went into their halftime locker room with a 48-43 lead.

Kentucky's 6-2 Player-of-the-Year candidate Rhyne Howard picked up her third foul just before the break---another key moment in this back-and-forth tussle.

Morrow was on the verge of another double-double at halftime with 12 points and nine rebounds. Held had seven points and five assists while Rogers scored eight points. The Blue Demons shot 50 percent from the floor over the first 20 minutes.

The Blue Demons are back at Wintrust Arena on Tuesday taking on Nicholls State in the annual Field Trip Day game at 11 a.m. in which DePaul Athletics provides free tickets and transportation to several thousand grammar-school students throughout the Chicago area, introducing them to the possibility of a college education.

Postgame Notes

Morrow came into the game as the nation's leading rebounder among freshman and second in points.
Morrow has 107 points, 73 rebounds in her last five games---an average of 21.4 points, 14.6 rebounds.
The 6-1 freshman has scored 20 points or more in four of 10 games---among the leaders in the BIG EAST.
Thursday's victory marked the first top-25 win for the Blue Demons since taking down then-No. 9 Kentucky on December 16, 2020 at Wintrust Arena.
After the first 10 games, DePaul (888 points) is leading the nation averaging 88.8 points a game.
Morris (1,282 points) surpassed Samantha Quigley (1273) at No. 26 on the DePaul all-time scoring list. Held is No. 25 at 1,290 points.
Dee Bekelja is No. 21 among active NCAA Division I players in career games played.
The Blue Demons are 3-2 against five NCAA tournament teams---beating Kentucky, Northwestern and Rutgers and falling to No. 17/15 Texas A&M and No. 7/11 Arizona.
Held is the BIG EAST's active career scoring leader in conference games with 729 points.
Morrow has scored in double figures nine of the first 10 games of her collegiate career.
Church and Morris have finished in double figures every game except one this season.
The Blue Demons have won the battle of the boards in eight of 10 games including over No. 7/11 Arizona. They topped Kentucky 46-30.